Three Sources For Finding New B2B Sales Leads In Social Media | Martech Zone

At least three primary lead sources are available to you on which you can focus your B2B sales efforts to increase your revenues. They are …

• Your existing customers
• People that others know but who you do not
• Folks that you presently have absolutely no connection to

Social media can and should play an integral part in your b2b sales efforts to mine each opportunity group. Establishing and nurturing relationships is a critical factor for all four of them. Let me ask you a few questions. Are you more likely to learn about somebody’s desires and needs during a sales presentation or a social engagement?

Are people generally more open during that same sales presentation or when they are talking with their friends on Facebook? Do people prefer to buy from friends (provided that they are also professionals) or from people that they do not know, let alone like? Where is a great place to engage socially with these folks? How about on social media?

Let’s take a closer look at each of our sources…

1. Your Existing Customers

Maybe it is the thrill of the hunt that drives salespeople to always be looking for new business while at the same time ignoring or mistreating their existing client base. You’ve heard the statistics:

• Finding a new customer is 10 times more expensive than keeping an existing one.
• 70% of your former customers left you because they felt ignored.

The last time I checked, all of my existing customers continued spending money. My goal is that all appropriate monies are always invested in my favorite charity, me.

Social media offers many ways to engage with your existing customer base. Everybody loves donuts, and social media provides you with an unlimited supply of digital donuts that are tasty, unique, and cost-effective. Make them feel that they are a part of your team. 

• Solicit their feedback by using polls on Facebook and LinkedIn. 
• Reward them with sneak peeks at new products and services or discounts on their current services. 
• Promote their businesses, thereby increasing their revenues. 
• Share articles of interest with them using any of the available marketing communication tools
• Use tools like Beacons AI to create a social media landing page that guides users through your multiple channels and encourages them to follow you everywhere. Here is how this tool works.
• What about a client-only focused newsletter that provides tips and tricks to get the most out of the existing products and services they are already investing in? MailChimp, based on your needs, may be free and easy to use! 

Make the necessary touches, using a variety of messages and methods, and do so often. If you are under the delusion that, just because they do business with you now, they will do so in the future based on some sort of auto-pilot guidance system … you are delusional. Today’s heroes are tomorrow’s bums and every customer you have is asking the same question … But, what have you done for me lately? 

If you have done your job with your existing customers, they are a tremendous source of referrals. Moreover, they will happily provide you with these! You will need to ask for them and train your clients on how to perform this task effectively. I gave somebody your name, and they may be calling you provides little value. I spoke to Dave Smith with ABC Company about you. He is expecting your call and can be reached at … … priceless!

2. People That Others Know But Who You Do Not

Here is where we begin to realize social media’s real power: its potential to expand one’s connection base. More connections equal more business opportunities. Take LinkedIn. 

For example, if I am connected to 100 unique people (1^st degree). They are connected to 100 unique folks that I don’t know (2^nd degree). Then those are connected to another 100 people I still don’t know (3^rd degree) … my LinkedIn network now exceeds 1,000,000 people! Or, if you wanted to connect with a particular individual or company, would you…

1. Get out of the old Rolodex, contact everybody you know individually, and ask them if they knew that person or company or …
2. Go to LinkedIn and maybe to BranchOut on Facebook and do a search.

If you choose #1, please move to the back of the digital bus, and you will not receive digital donuts.

Most of us know a bunch of folks, but how well do we really know them, and how well do they really know us? Be honest. With all of your contacts, do you know where each of those works, much about their business, and what their needs are? How many of these same folks are truly familiar with your offerings? Not many.

3. Folks You Have No Connection To

Certainly, we can target and find these people, but always remember the first rule of social media: it is about attraction vs. interruption. 

Start by identifying which social network, or networks, your future customers are most likely to be found, which network(s) are best suited to your product or service, and what (if any) geographical limitations may be in play. Caution! Don’t be too short-sighted in this exercise. Think beyond where you are now to where you want to go. Start with two areas:

1. Targeted connections
2. Targeted opportunities

Targeted connections would be those who are most likely to need your product or service or would be in a good position to refer you to those who might. All major services aggressively suggest folks who may be good matches, but you can also do custom keyword searches to find these people on your own. Groups and Answers are excellent ways to connect with like-minded people on LinkedIn. 

Targeted opportunities can be discovered in a wide variety of ways. Think of keywords that you might use to find your product or service on a Google Search. Now use those same keywords to …

• Create alerts on free services like Google Alerts or Buzzsumo
• Create and save these searches by using Twitter/X Advanced Search
• Using advanced search on LinkedIn, you can also look for updates from folks, even those outside of your network, who may be expressing a need for your services
• Facebook also provides the ability to search updates for these keywords
• Create your own updates and drive people to your website landing page where you have placed an effective call to action or your Facebook. LinkedIn, or X Company Pages.

Ultimately, your ability to increase your revenues will revolve around your ability to consistently deliver your message to those most in need of your services. Excellent customer service generates referrals, and the closing ratio is generally to die for!